Larry Shenk, Vice President of Alumni Relations, shares his notes, quotes and anecdotes from the world of baseball.

Camp Down to 31 Phillies

Camp down to 31 as John Mayberry, Dane Sardinha and Ozzie Chavez were sent to Carpenter Complex this morning.

Six more players need to go to make the 25-man limit for opening day. Including the two-game On-Deck Series Games next Friday night and Saturday afternoon, there are seven games left before the season opens.

Tomorrow is a packing day. Equipment truck leaves Tuesday morning. Team has a charter flight to Philly after Thursday’s game. Spring training is nearly over. “Hard to believe, Harry” as the late Richie Ashburn used to say.

Final FiveThanks to you the fans, we now have a final five in the Phillies Wall of Fame balloting process for 2010. Over 23,000 fans, the most ever, voted online. Appreciate all the support.

A special Wall of Fame Selection Committee, consisting of members of the media, Phillies executives and Phillies historians, will select the winner that will be inducted on August 6.

Paint the Town RedYearly pre-season promotion begins tomorrow noon at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.

20,000 pounds of the Phanatic will be on display. No, it isn’t one King Kong-sized Phanatic but 20, 6-foot, 100-pound fiberglass Phanatic’s that will be on display at the Museum until 2 in the afternoon. Scott Franzke and the Ballgirls will also be there.

Event, co-sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, is open to the public at no charge. In other words, free.

In the true spirit of the week-long events, Phillie Phanatic will be red. Sorry, but the mascot looks better in green.

Alumni MemoriesA daily feature–spring training memories by Phillies Alumni, who were asked three questions: (1) Memories of their very first spring training; (2) What they liked the most about spring training, and (3) What did they like the least.

Kevin Sefcik (INF, 1995-2000)“Favorite thing about spring training had to be the weather. Coming down from Chicago in mid-February was awesome. Clearwater was a great location. I experienced a couple of other areas in spring training after leaving the Phillies and nothing was better than Clearwater. Least favorite part? Nothing. There is nothing better than playing baseball whether it was spring training or the season.

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